TORONTO, Nov. 20 /CNW/ - (TSX: SCC) - Sears Canada Inc. today kicked off its fifth annual national Tree of Hope campaign which will help many underprivileged children and young teens receive their wish gifts this Holiday season.
"Thanks to the generosity of our customers, the Sears Tree of Hope will help to bring joy to thousands of kids across the country," said Brent Hollister, President and Chief Operating Officer, Sears Canada. "It's so easy to make a wish come true for a young person in your own community."
Last year, the Sears Tree of Hope program saw more than 14,000 wish gifts with a retail value of over $280,000 distributed across Canada.
Each Sears store works with its local Sears Young Futures charity partner to distribute the gifts, with any administrative costs absorbed by Sears.
The charity partner provides a list of the local children's wish gifts to Sears. Each child's wish gift is printed on a gold star and hung on the Tree of Hope that is displayed in every Sears store across Canada. Sears customers simply choose a gold star, purchase the wish item, and drop off the unwrapped gift at the store's Wish Station.
"We hope that our customers will join with us once again this Holiday season to ensure that every young person represented on our Tree of Hope will have something under the tree this season," added Hollister.
The Tree of Hope campaign runs until the week before Christmas in all Full-Line, Sears Home and Outlet stores across Canada. Customers can find out additional information by visiting their local Sears store.
Tree of Hope is part of Sears Young Futures, the community investment program of Sears Canada. Sears Young Futures supports organizations that provide enriching after-school programming that inspires children and youth to believe in themselves. Sears Canada has been a strong supporter of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada for close to 40 years. The Sears Young Futures program also supports other youth-focused initiatives such as I Can Swim, 4-H, and the Sears Ontario Drama Festival. Additional funds are raised through Sears in-store campaigns and customer donations of Sears Club Points. Sears Young Futures has donated more than $13 million to non-profit organizations since its inception 10 years ago.
Sears Canada is a multi-channel retailer with a network of 123 Full-Line stores, 47 Sears Home stores, over 2,200 catalogue merchandise pick-up locations, 144 dealer stores, 14 outlet stores, 51 floor covering centres, 49 auto centres, 110 Sears Travel offices and a nationwide maintenance, repair, and installation network. The Company also publishes Canada's most extensive general merchandise catalogue and offers shopping online at www.sears.ca.
/For further information: Kim Daynard, Sears Canada, (416) 941-4427, kim.daynard(at)sears.ca/
